The Mind of God - What’s Not There I

The Mind of God has been one of my pet topics for decades. I am going to be brave and explore it a bit more, here in public. I’ve been collecting ideas and thoughts in a notebook. We’ll see where this goes. To find all of the posts on this topic, look for Mind of God in the Topic Cloud and click on it.

image from www.ram-il.org

Often, a good way to begin to define something is to list things that it is not. Once some things are eliminated one can focus on what’s left.

What is not in the mind of God? This is one of those somewhat goofy questions, such as “What can’t God do?” Yet, there are some things that are not in God’s mind.

Under the Old Covenant, recorded in the Old Testament, the sins of human beings were defined by the law. Not only individuals, but families, and entire nations were held accountable for breaking that law. Grandchildren were held accountable for their grandparent’s sins. When God decreed that a nation should die because of sin, not only the warriors, but women, children and animals had to die as well. The law is unquestionably harsh. But something better was on the way.

The prophet Jeremiah, around 500 BC, recorded the word he received from the Lord, “The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.” Jeremiah spoke about a time when the law would not be the primary way that God dealt with people, but that he would put the “law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” At that time he prophesied people would only be held accountable for their own sins, and that God “will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

This is part of a lengthy prophecy, and we are not left to wonder what it means. The writer of the book of Hebrews goes into a detailed explanation. As the young church began to recognize what Jesus’ death and resurrection meant, they could hardly contain their enthusiasm!

It became crystal clear that the sacrifice of Christ’s blood was the final sacrifice that God would require. The priests would no longer need to kill animals. The letter to the Hebrews says, “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (The “we” refers to anyone who recognizes that one sacrifice as the only requirement needed to satisfy God).

It goes on to quote most of the Jeremiah passage, including that line, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” So, for those of us who have chosen to live under the New Covenant, our sins are not in the mind of God. He chooses to forget them. Gone.

So, does this make any difference in the way we should live? You bet!

We now have confidence “to enter the Most Holy Place.” This is a reference to the temple, where the priest would come into the very presence of God. Only the High Priest was allowed to go there, once a year, to receive forgiveness for the sins of Israel. But now, because our sins are not in God’s mind we are invited to “draw near to God.”

Sounds pretty ordinary to those of us who have been going to church our whole lives, but this was astounding stuff to a nation who had been used to death sentences for things like touching the Ark of the Covenant. They were used to hearing that no one could see the face of God and live, but now we are told that we can boldly go right up to the throne of grace to receive mercy.

And there’s more. We don’t have to carry around a guilty conscience. Whenever we do something wrong, we don’t have to wait for a whole year (which they had to do under the Old Covenant) to be forgiven. We can get up after each time we fall down, dust off our knees, and keep moving forward.

Pretty good consequences just from something that’s not in the mind of God.

Jeremiah 31
Hebrews 4
Hebrews 10

Random Rant - Friendliness and Church

Occasionally there is an issue that makes me a bit hot under the collar. (OK, if you know me, you know that this may happen more than occasionally).

Here’s a paradox. The church should be the kind of place where one can quickly form friendships and find people with whom they have many things in common. With a (likely) shared world view, one should be able to assume a huge body of shared beliefs and move quickly to finding additional things in common.

In actuality, most of the times I’ve found myself part of a new church group, the people are polite, but aren’t much interested in forming friendships. By contrast, at some other general interest groups I’m involved in, people easily converse and express interest in me, exploring the possibility of staying in touch... an initial step in becoming friends. Hopefully, I express interest in them as well.

Let me confess, right out of the box, that I’m not the greatest at personal relationships. However, I’ve learned, over a lifetime, some of the basics of both how to draw out other people, and how to answer questions in an interesting way. (You may think this is an easy skill, but I was an only child, raised in a home where we did not speak at meals. Conversing was not a skill I learned until college- but this is a tangent.)

We’ve been going to a particular church for three years now. I haven’t been going every week, but often. We’ve been to several dinners; I’ve been to an evening for women; I’ve volunteered to help at one event. Every Sunday we shake hands and greet those around us. However, I have yet to make a single new friend. (There are a few people there whom we knew before we attended.) Basically, I’ve decided that after this long, no one is going to approach me to be friendly, and I’ll need to be the instigator if I want to know who anyone is or what their interests are.

I think that part of the problem is the format of activities. In clubs based on interests, people are generally doing some activity (hiking, birdwatching, quilting, model railroading, etc), and are free to visit in between spurts of concentration on the activity. Of course, in a church service, we are all focused on worship, not each other.

However, even at the dinners we’ve attended with this church I haven’t felt a glimmer of interest in me. OK, OK, I know I shouldn’t be thinking about me. Yet, when we were new, I did have expectations that the people who “belonged” would take the lead to learn about the new people. I’ve now realized that this isn’t going to happen, and if I want to try to find any friends there that I am going to have to take an aggressive role. I have to admit that not very motivated to do so.

Where I’m going with this is to pose a question. If we Christians want people to believe in a God that cares about them, don’t we, as individuals, need to be doing a better job of caring than secular groups?

Lyrics- I Know that My Redeemer Liveth

Every Sunday the lyrics from some great piece of Christian music will be featured. It's not that I want worship to revert to using all hymns, it's just that many modern Christian songs don't SAY anything. I really miss some deeper meaning. So I'm going to remind us of some great words.

I Know that My Redeemer Liveth (1893)
words by Jessie B. Pounds
tune by James H. Fill­more, Sr.

I know that my Redeemer liveth,
And on the earth again shall stand;
I know eternal life He giveth,
That grace and power are in His hand.

Chorus

I know, I know, that Jesus liveth,
And on the earth again shall stand;
I know, I know, that life He giveth,
That grace and power are in His hand.

I know His promise never faileth,
The Word He speaks, it cannot die;
Though cruel death my flesh assaileth,
Yet I shall see Him by and by.

Chorus

I know my mansion He prepareth,
That where He is there I may be;
O wondrous thought, for me He careth,
And He at last will come for me.

Chorus

This was written as part of an Eas­ter can­ta­ta “Hope’s Mes­sen­ger,” first performed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1893. It was so popular that it appeared in a hymn book, The Praise Hymn­al, in 1896.

This is one of my favorites of the old hymns, although it is rarely sung. That's probably because its not in modern hymnbooks. The tune is as important to me as the words when labeling a song as a favorite. This one has it all.

Name Game- Joshua

Have you ever noticed how honest the Bible is? Almost all of the great heroes have some major blemish on their performance record. It’s as if God wants us to remember that He uses us as we are. When we let everyone down, and sin, he’s ready to forgive and let us move on as soon as we are ready.

But Joshua’s life is pretty much a non-stop shining example. Joshua was a great leader to emulate. He was a young man when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. In fact, he was one of the twelve spies sent into Canaan to scout out the possibility of taking the land that God had promised them. Along with Caleb, they were the only two who believed that they could conquer the strong people they saw. As a result of the timidity of the Israelites, they were forced to wander for 40 years in the desert. Even Moses did not get to enter the Promised Land, but Joshua and Caleb did. That’s a pretty impressive resume, right there!

When Moses received the Ten Commandments, Joshua was the only one allowed to go part way up the mountain with him. He was already in training for the primary role of his life. After Moses’ death, Joshua became the next leader of the entire nation, to bring the Israelites into the land. God himself endorsed this choice.

Thanks to the popular song, “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho,” most people probably remember the story of the Israelites victory over this walled city by unusual means. After marching around the city for six days, according to some specific instructions from the Lord, and taking no military action, on the seventh day they marched again, blew horns and shouted. When the city walls fell down the conquered people could have no doubt about the power of Jehovah God. The entire account is an amazing lesson on trusting in God rather than in our own strength.

Through military actions, Joshua’s army did take control of much of the land of Canaan. He passed several tests of his leadership. He identified disobedience and sin in the ranks, and dealt with it swiftly. He made it clear to all that he was following God rather than his own plans. Joshua and God were so in tune that God gave him extra daylight in order to win a battle. Think about that– it means that the earth was disturbed in its turning. (More about that some time.) The campaign against Jericho is mentioned in Hebrews 11 as one of the shining examples of great faith.

His biggest failure that is recorded was that he was tricked into making a treaty with one tribe of people that he should have been fighting against. Why was it held against him for being tricked? Because he didn’t ask the Lord what he should do when faced with the choice of whether to believe the deceptive messengers or not. Nevertheless, he honored the treaty, knowing that he could not break his oath.

Joshua’s farewell speech, at the age of 110, is one of the best remembered in history, as he challenged the people to forsake idols, and said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”


(Exodus 24:12,13)
the book of Joshua
Hebrews 11:30

Answers to Quiz Yourself

These are the answers to yesterday’s Bible matching game Hope you had fun!

1. Samson - Delilah
Samson and Delilah are the classic lesson about trusting someone who schemes. Samson told the secret of his great strength to his wife, Delilah, and she betrayed him to the enemy. Judges 14

2. Ananias - Sapphira
Ananias and Sapphira are the only people in the New Testament who were struck dead by the Lord for a sin. They were a married couple who sold a piece of property. They weren’t required to give all the money to God, but they lied when they brought their gift and said that it was all of the purchase price. That was a fatal mistake! Acts 5

3. Timothy - Eunice
Eunice was Timothy’s mother. She is called a woman of great faith who raised Timothy well. 2 Timothy 1:5

4. Moses - Zipporah
Zipporah was a Midianite woman who became Moses’ wife. Exodus 2:15-21

5. Zechariah - Elizabeth
Zechariah and Elizabeth were the parents of John the Baptist. John was born when Elizabeth was old, and Zechariah was temporarily struck dumb because he did not believe this was possible. Luke 1:5-23

6. Lazarus - Mary
Lazarus and Mary (not the mother of Jesus) are brother and sister. Martha was another sister. They were close friends of Jesus. John 11:1

7. Aeneas - Dorcas
Aeneas and Dorcas are only connected by the fact that they lived in nearby towns, and were both miraculously restored to health by Peter. But their stories appear side by side in Acts 9.

8. Ahab - Jezebel
Ahab was declared to be the most wicked king of Israel. His wife Jezebel was so evil that her name has become synonymous with evil manipulation and deceit. 1 Kings 21:25

9. Barak - Deborah
Deborah was a prophetess, a judge who was leading Israel. She told Barak that he would have victory over the Canaanites in battle. Judges 4:4-6

10. David - Abagail
In I Samuel 25 Abigail’s husband, Nabal, insults David. David sets out to attack Nabal, but Abigail rides out to meet David with gifts and an apology, which are accepted. (Nabal later dies and Abigail and David marry.)

Friday Fun- Quiz Yourself

Every Friday there will be a Bible game of some kind to play. The answers will be posted on Saturday morning. Match the man in the left hand column with a woman associated with him from the right hand column. Give yourself an extra pat on the back if you know what their relationship is.

1. Samson 2. Ananias 3. Timothy 4. Moses 5. Zechariah 6. Lazarus 7. Aeneas 8. Ahab 9. Barak 10. David

A. Mary B. Eunice C. Abigail D. Zipporah E. Deborah F. Sapphira G. Delilah H. Dorcas I. Jezebel J. Elizabeth

Mind of God - Introduction

The Mind of God has been one of my pet topics for decades. I am going to be brave and explore it a bit more, here in public. I’ve been collecting ideas and thoughts in a notebook. We’ll see where this goes. To find all of the posts on this topic, look for Mind of God in the Topic Cloud and click on it.

image from http://phoenixicsepehr.blogspot.com

One of the most powerful verses and chapters in the Bible is Philippians 2, where Paul tells us to “let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Who, being in the form of God... made himself of no reputation and... he humbled himself and became obedient unto death.” (Condensed but I haven’t changed the meaning.)

I remember the first time I discovered I Corinthians 2:16 in the Living Bible. It says, “But strange as it seems, we Christians actually do have within us a portion of the very thoughts and mind of Christ.” WHAT? I went scrambling back to the translation of my childhood, King James, to see if that was really what the verse said. Here’s what I found, “we have the mind of Christ.”

This was astounding! Paul actually did say that we have the mind of Christ! Now, I know that my mind is rarely behaving the way I think Jesus’ mind did. I may be able to control my actions and choose to (mostly) do the right things. I may be able to guide my thoughts so that I’m not usually dwelling on anger, greed, lust, etc. But for the most part, my mind is pretty much centered on one topic, me. And that is the opposite of being focused on God, serving him and others.

After all, way back in 700BC, Isaiah said, “Who has understood the mind of the Lord?” (Is 40:13) I think most of us would agree that this sounds like too tall an order. Isaiah also said that God’s “ways are higher than your ways and [God’s] thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9.

And yet, we “have the mind of Christ.” That seems impossible to fathom. What does it mean? The Living Bible actually backs off from the literal translation and cautiously says that we have a portion of that mind. But literally the original says “we have the mind of Christ.” Wow!

So how do I tap into this amazing potential? What does it mean to have the mind of Christ? I decided that if I am supposed to have that mind, indeed already have it, that I need to try to learn what’s in God’s mind.

We all have unused portions of our minds... we may have a talent we’ve never yet discovered. We can improve our memory with practice. We can expand our vocabulary. This topic will continue to explore how we find that “mind of Christ,” and begin to let that mind guide our lives.

This won’t be me telling you what to do. This will be me trying to learn what I should do.